With rocks now exposed at the end of the boat ramp and record low water levels, Lake Mead National Recreation Area has begun major construction at South Cove, one of the two take-out points for river parties rafting the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park.
Lake Mead National Recreation Area has approved construction of approximately 3,300 linear feet of new roadway over to a new area for Grand Canyon river runners to take-out.
A temporary hard-hull launch ramp is being constructed as well. The work will also replace the existing asphalt surface with approximately 1,500 square yards of "V-grooved" concrete.
A National Park Service road crew has arrived to begin work in the area and the contractor, Interstate Rock Products of Hurricane, Utah, will be on site May 2.
The NPS, facing record low levels in Mead, is chasing the receding water at boat ramps all over the reservoir. Lake Mead National Recreation Area will spend $318,444 on the work at South Cove alone.
The Bureau of Reclamation notes the reservoir is now dropping a foot every ten days.